Just as Zhao Qing had thought, finding a job was not easy at all, not to mention that she had been fired for absenteeism before. In the end, Zhao Qing could only go to a nearby garment factory to process buttons on the assembly line.

Fu Wei is a bit better off than her, working as a helper in the kitchen of a restaurant. He doesn't know where else he can go, but earning some money first is never a bad thing.

The garment factory paid wages daily, based on the weight of the garments produced. Zhao Qing worked all day and earned a paltry fifteen yuan. However, Zhao Qing was quite happy. Clutching the fifteen yuan in her hand, she ignored Fu Wei's situation and ran towards the dilapidated building.

When she knocked on the door, Chen Rou was about to cook dinner. She was halfway through chopping vegetables when the knocking interrupted her, and her temper flared up immediately. She opened the door irritably: "Who is it!" Seeing it was Zhao Qing, Chen Rou's expression darkened even more: "What are you doing back here? Where's the money?"

Zhao Qing handed the fifteen yuan to the other party, and Chen Rou took it and glanced at it: "You're using fifteen yuan to pay off your debt?"

"There will be more tomorrow." Zhao Qing's voice was soft, but Chen Rou heard it clearly. She smiled contemptuously: "You think a few dozen yuan a day is helping me out?"

"..." Zhao Qing didn't speak. Seeing that Chen Rou was about to close the door, he said, "There will be more later. I'll put more away and give it to you when I have more. I want to go home."

Chen Rou looked her up and down: "Who wants to wait for your few dollars? The accommodation fee is more than just a few dollars. Don't you even know what use you are? You're thinking about staying somewhere?" As she spoke, she kicked Zhao Qing straight in the knee, making Zhao Qing's face turn pale with pain. She immediately knelt on the ground, but Chen Rou showed no sign of pity: "There are many ways to make money in this world. You think you can stay somewhere without bringing tens of thousands of dollars?"

“This is my home,” Zhao Qing retorted softly to Chen Rou’s choice of words.

"Pah!" Chen Rou kicked her again, this time landing a direct kick on Zhao Qing's face: "Giving birth to a money-losing brat like you has already ruined our family, and you're still arguing with me? I think you don't want to live! Zhao Qing, let me tell you, if it were me, I'd jump off this building right now. What's the point of you being alive?"

With another slam, the door closed again. Zhao Qing lay on the ground for a long time before convulsively getting up and pounding on the door. She was trembling all over, her voice hoarse: "Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!" She didn't know how long she shouted before the door finally moved, but no one welcomed her in. Instead, a bucket of cold water was poured over her, and then with another slam, the door closed again.

The cold water soaked through her clothes, clinging to her skin and making Zhao Qing feel chilled to the bone. It was a bone-chilling cold, so cold that she felt like she was going to freeze to death outside.

Zhao Qing's mind was buzzing. She crossed her arms and walked downstairs, but two women came out from around the corner. They were dressed in a rather flamboyant manner, which, combined with their old faces, made them look ridiculous and laughable.

They grabbed Zhao Qing and tried to drag her into the house, saying as they pulled, "You get a lot of money each time, so you can explain yourself better, right?"

Zhao Qing didn't hear what they were saying. She just felt a sharp pain in her head. Even if someone pulled her, she didn't care, since there wasn't much left anyway.

"Let her go!" A sudden male voice rang out, and a dark figure came towards them, punching the two women several times and driving them away.

Pulling Zhao Qing under the overpass, Fu Wei grabbed his hand and shouted angrily, "Do you know what you're doing?!"

Zhao Qing ignored him.

"What are you thinking!" Fu Wei shook her. "You don't really think that's a home, do you?" Fu Wei gave a mocking laugh, grabbed her hand, and pulled up her sleeve, showing Zhao Qing the bruises on her hands inflicted by Chen Rou. "Are you sick in the head?"

Zhao Qing said softly, "Yes."

She was indeed sick. Even though Chen Rou had never treated her well—never since they were children—she still wanted to go back, even after being scolded and beaten, as if she were ill. No matter how badly Chen Rou treated her, she still felt that wherever Chen Rou was was her home.

Zhao Qing thought, isn't that how it is for everyone? Her classmates at school were the same; wherever their parents were, that was home. So she should be the same.

The old doctor said she was too stubborn, and the assistant said she was obsessed and stupid.

They can say whatever they want, and Zhao Qing doesn't care what they say, because whether it's the old doctor or the young assistant, their families are happy and complete, so they have the right to judge her incomplete family.

but……

Zhao Qing clenched her fist, but Fu Wei didn't! Fu Wei's home was neither happy nor complete. They were clearly the same, so why could Fu Wei criticize her home?

The fist was thrown out, but it missed. Fu Wei was also enraged, and the two started fighting.

After a long while, both of them lay on the ground, panting heavily, with several new wounds on their bodies, but their moods were inexplicably much better.

“Let’s run,” Fu Wei said.

"Where are you going?" Zhao Qing blinked. It was already dark, and she was thinking about her fifteen yuan.

"Anywhere is fine, as long as it's not here."

"I want to find a home."

"Searching while running."

The dark clouds in the sky were finally blown away by the wind, and the soft light of the moon was fully revealed.

This was the first time Zhao Qing had told someone why she so desperately wanted a home.

“Everyone has a home, and I think I should have one too. Chen Rou isn’t good, but she can give me a home. She gave birth to me, and I always thought she didn’t hate me that much. Although she hits people hard, when she scolds me, she always says that I need to earn money for her… I thought that if I earned money for her, everything would be alright.”

“She told me to die today,” Zhao Qing said, emphasizing the word “die”: “I thought she didn’t want me to die because she didn’t abort me and even gave birth to me and raised me.”

But it turns out that everything she had done was to make Zhao Qing choose to die.

“Let’s go to S City,” Fu Wei said. “It’s the capital, it should be very powerful.”

"It's so far away." Zhao Qing remembered that her teacher had said that their place was in the south of the map, while S City, the capital, was in the north of the map.

"Take it slow," Fu Wei said. "We'll get there as we earn money."

Zhao Qing turned over; she was a little sleepy. She'd talk about this tomorrow.

"Cut!" Filming for the basic episodes of "Morbid" has come to an end. One episode will be released every week. The scripts for the later episodes have been completed. We just need to collect feedback after the broadcast to revise the scripts before filming can continue.

The official Weibo account of the TV series had already posted promotional photos and character stills, and netizens were wailing in despair. The reason was simple: the two main characters in the promotional photos looked like they were having a really tough time.

Leaving aside Gu Yu's tattered clothes, just look at the bruises around his mouth and the blood on his forehead. Then there's Ye Chu next to him; her eyes are lifeless, half her face is red, and her arms, exposed from her short sleeves, are covered in bruises.

"Someone tell me what this 'morbid' thing is all about. The promotional photos look so awful..."